For most parents, eating out usually means nearby and at fast food restaurants. Their speed is a blessing to parents with hungry children with short attention spans, but a nutritional balance is sometimes wanting.

• These restaurants do supply ample protein accompanied by excess calories from frying the french fries and sugars in sodas and shakes, missing other nutrients of fruits and vegetables. This is the best argument for buying with lettuce, tomato, and onion.

• The typical fast food meal is not devoid of food value, rather it’s just somewhat unbalanced. One hundred percent of your carbohydrate needs, sugar and starch, are being met, but little of your Vitamin C, for instance. Don’t hesitate to bring some fruits and vegetables from your car or your home. Apples, for one, easily fit into pockets.

• Also, patronize those restaurants that provide salad bars and baked potatoes. Buy milk for a better balanced meal instead of a cola or chocolate shake, and buy juice where available. Besides, you can look for a water fountain and just ask for glasses.

• Fast food chains are growing in popularity as evidenced by their appearance on every corner. They can be part of an eating routine, just not the major part if we want to have a balanced diet.

Vicki Lansky’s practical, common sense approach to parenting is familiar to millions throughout the world. Vicki’s first book, Feed Me, I’m Yours, published in 1974, and still one of the most popular baby/toddler food cookbooks in the country, was followed by The Taming of the C.A.N.D.Y. Monster, a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her other titles include: Toilet Training, Birthday Parties Best Party Tips & Ideas For Ages 1-8, Dear Babysitter Handbook, Welcoming Your Second Baby, Getting Your Child to Sleep … and Back to Sleep, Trouble-free Travel with Children, Baby Proofing Basics and Games Babies Play From Birth to Twelve Months, Koko Bear’s New Potty, A New Baby at Koko Bear’s House, Koko Bear and the New Babysitter, and Koko Bear’s Big Earache. Vicki Lansky’s Divorce Book for Parents: Helping Children Cope with Divorce and Its Aftermath